Singing, dancing, and an oboe solo, were all featured in this year’s annual talent pageant, but the Lee brothers’ magic trick stole the show. Hosted by Leadership, the event was held in the big gym on Thursday, April 9, during a special 4th period assembly.
“[The talent show] is unlike anything else. In someway, everyone knows someone who is participating. It is not a rally, and it is singular in its purpose. It comes at a good time, and that adds to [the excitement],” Leadership advisor Dino Petrocco said.
“Every year, we try to give as many people as possible a chance to participate. This year, we had a quite bit of diversity. There was a nice balance to the show,” Petrocco added.
Junior Class Secretary Katie Erickson said that the talent show demonstrates the variety skills of the student body. “It is just a time when we can see how talented our student body really is, and see their talents that others did not know about them,” she said.
Erickson also noted that the show has a history of success, which adds to the anticipation. “In previous years, a lot of the shows have been really good, so it makes everyone excited to see what is going to happen,” she said.
One of the highlights in recent years has been the Bhangra; this year the traditional Indian dance troupe was conspicuously absent.
Former Bhangra member and junior Cameron Atwood said that he was the only underclassman last year. “The Bhangra club did not perform this year, because I was the only non-senior member last year. This year, I was unable to give the time to continue it as a club,” he said.
Sophomore Kaveh Boostanpour played an oboe solo. According to Boostanpour, he has only played the oboe for 7 months.
Boostanpour said that the piece brings tension. “It is a theme from The Godfather. I think it has a sort of mysterious feel to the piece, which makes it suspenseful,” he said.
Towards the end of the talent show senior Sam Lee, along with his sophomore brother Max Lee, performed a magic trick.
Last year, the Lee brothers became infamous for their card trick, and hilarious showmanship. This year the duo faked out the audience by opening with an apparently botched trick, only to return later, after a comical diversion to rip open their shirts to reveal the suit and number of the original card painted on their chests.
Of the diversion, Max Lee said, “We read someone’s mind, and found a special word,” he explained.
Sam Lee said that in spite of the theatrics, this year’s trick was simplified compared to last year. “The first one we were trying to make a really complex magic trick, but nobody could see what we were doing. For this year’s trick, we decided to make it more of a show, that had magic in it,” he said.
The Lee brothers initially called senior Emily Fong from the audience, and had her draw a card from the deck.
According to Fong, her participation was completely spontaneous. “My friend Kelly Williams and bunch of my other friends pushed me off of where I was sitting, so I had to stand up, or fall on my face. I stood up, and they saw that I stood up. Sam Lee called me from the audience. At that point, I just had to go,” she said.
“I was really embarrassed [at the beginning of the trick]. I just really did not want to do it, and I would not be comfortable in front of the whole school. But in the end, it was fun. I had a lot of fun doing it,” she said.
Later in “trick,’ Fong was asked questions about a word she had chosen but had not divulged to her hosts. Meanwhile, Max Lee wrote down what he supposedly believe to be her word on poster board and held it up to the audience. He wrote down “Pee,” though the actual work Fong had chosen was “eat.” The hilarity hinged upon Sam Lee’s questions, which included an inquiry about whether or not Fong would do the action with the use of her mouth.
According to Sam Lee, teaming with his brother is essential in creating the winning chemistry for their routine. “It is not like we talk that much, or hang out with each other after school. But, because we are siblings, we have similar brains,” he said.
Sam Lee said that the trick was his brother’s idea. “This is a La Puma exclusive fun fact: I do not know anything about magic, it is all my brother. So, I am really the beautiful assistant,” he said.
According to Sam Lee, this is probably their last trick together, because he is graduating from Campo this year.
